Video: Cropping a video

There may be times when your video clip was shot too high or too low or maybe you want to pull in tight to improve the style. You don't have to open up the clip in a video editing program. You can do the cropping right inside PowerPoint. Note that cropping is different from resizing. While resizing changes the dimensions of the clip itself, cropping cuts off the top, bottom, left, or right so that unwanted side material is actually gone from the video. I am working on Slide 4 in my presentation.

Discover how to integrate and enhance video and audio to create a more engaging PowerPoint presentation. In this course, author Alicia Katz Pollock emphasizes the technical details necessary to make a multimedia presentation work: from working with appropriate file formats, to applying video styles, to reducing the file size of multimedia presentations for sharing.

Topics include:

Using video and audio appropriately

Linking vs. embedding media

Considering copyrights

Inserting video

Working with proprietary formats, such as QuickTime, YouTube, and Flash

Cropping a video

There may be times when your video clip was shot too high or too low or maybeyou want to pull in tight to improve the style.You don't have to open up the clip in a video editing program.You can do the cropping right inside PowerPoint.Note that cropping is different from resizing.While resizing changes the dimensions of the clip itself, cropping cuts offthe top, bottom, left, or right so that unwanted side material is actually gone from the video.I am working on Slide 4 in my presentation.

You can use any video clip you have linked or embedded.In our video, we have black bands at the top and bottom, so the clip would lookbetter if we just focus on the star of our show.Click on the media clip.While you're clicked on it, two new tabs will appear.Video Tools Format and Playback.We want the Format tab.On the right side, there is a group called Size and in it a big button that says Crop.Go ahead and click on it.The handles on the corners and middles of my box go from white round circles to black lines.

The shape of the handles will be familiar if you have done any cropping in otherMicrosoft Office programs.When I put my cursor over them, it mirrors the same shape, so I know I amdragging the correct handle.Click and drag the top black line down to the top of the black border.Now do the same for the bottom.Bring it up to cut off the black.I could also use these L-shaped handles in the corners to move both the wallsand the ceiling at the same time.When I am done, just click off the video anywhere on the slide.

When I play my video, I can see my new cropping edges.(Female speaker: Hansel and Petal has been for years my?)I will click Escape to go back to the normal view.If you like what you see, you are done.If you don't like it, just click on the Crop button again and find a new replacement.If you want complete precision with your cropping, use the Launcher button inthe bottom right hand corner of the Size Group.In the dialog box that appears, click on Crop on the left-hand side.

Now you have eight further adjustments you can make.The top section is Picture Position.This refers to the picture within the bounding box.If I adjust the height and the width, the video itself expands and contracts.Offset X and Offset Y move the video within the bounding box.When I increase these offsets, gaps may appear on the left and right hand side.The same will happen if I move it up and down.

The bottom half, Crop position, relates to the sides of the box itself.Any changes I made to the height and width here are also reflected in the sizeboxes up in the Ribbon.The Left and Top settings refer to the exact position of the video on the slide.Move these up and down and the location of the clip will move.Once you got your video perfectly sized and oriented, click Close and then clickoff of your picture.Now here is another way you can get to your cropping options.

Right click on your media clip and in this little shortcut menu, there is asection with video tools.Cropping is this little button right here which will change your resize handlesinto cropping handles.I will go ahead and press Escape to leave this mode.Now that you have cropped your clip, you can save some file size by using theCompress Media feature.We will explore Compress Media in detail later in this course.For now, know the Compress Media will delete the unused portion of your videoand it may reduce your video's quality as well.

Once you have compressed your media clip, that cropped material will be completely gone.If you change your mind about your cropping points, you will need to start allover again with a fresh video import.The ability to quickly and easily crop away sides of your video clip rightinside PowerPoint will save you hours of time, now that you don't have to openup video editing software for quick edits.

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